Cloth-folder



No. 752,995. PATENTED FEB. 23 1904.

H. NELSON.

CLOTH FOLDER. APPLICATION FILED 116.27, 1903.

NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented February 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HORATIO NELSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO SAMUEL S. WENZELL, OF PHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,995, dated February23, 1904.

Application filed Angust 27, 1903.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HORATIO NELSON, aciti zen of the United States,residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Cloth-Folders, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient form offolder for turning in the edges of a strip of fabric, the folder beingespecially adapted for use in advance of a pressing-iron, whereby thepressing of the folded strip can immediately follow the foldingoperation. 4

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of acloth-folder constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is aplan view showing the folder in operation upon a piece of cloth. Figs.Sand 4 are side views illustrating one of the features of the invention,and Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of a special form of the folder.

The folder consists of a piece of sheet metal bent into the form of arectangular tube 1, with longitudinal slot 2 in the under side of thesame, which slot is, by preference, given a flaring form at the forwardend of the tube. The top of the tube has formed in itoppositely-inclined slots 3 and 4, one extending diagonally inward fromone of the front corners of the tube and the other extending inwardly ata reverse angle from the opposite corner, the slot 4 being preferablylonger than the slot 3. The relation of these slots to each other willdepend largely upon the character of the fold which it is desired toimpart to the fabric. Thus if it is intended to fold the strip so thatits folded edges will overlap each other the inner end of one slotshould correspondingly overlap the inner end of the other slot in orderto permit such folding of the fabric, or if a lesser amount of fold isto be imparted to the edges of the strip such overlapping of the innerends of the slots will not be necessary. The top of the tube 1 is at thefront end of the tube bent inwardly, so as to form a tongue 5, as shownin Fig. 1, and at the rear end of the tube the top of the latter has anustanding flange 6.

In theuse of the device the strip a: of fab- Serial No. 171,016. (Nomodel.)

from the rear end of the tube 1 can be at once subjected to the actionof a smoothing or pressing iron 7, which by contact with the rear end ofthe tube 1 or with the upstanding flange 6 of the same pushes the tubeahead of it, whereby the pressing operation immediately follows thefolding operation, and the movement of the tube 1 necessary tov effectthe folding of the strip is accomplished by the successive forwardmovements of the smoothing-iron 7.

Instead of forming the flange 6 upon the top of the tube the bottomportion of the same may be turned downward, as shown at 6 in Fig. 4, soas to elevate the rear end of the tube, the purpose of such elevationand also of the upstanding flange 6 being to permit proper contact withthe tube of a smoothingiron having an elevated nose portion, as shown.

The slot 2 in the bottom of the tube permits access to the strip for thepurpose of feeding the same along through the tube when the latter isfirst applied to the strip.

In some cases it is preferable to form the bottom of the strip withclosed ends 2, as shown in Fig. 5, in which case a wide open ing 2* maybe formed in the bottom, so as to expose more of the cloth than isexposed by the slot 2.

The device described forms a simple, cheap, convenient, and effectivedevice for the purpose intended.

'When only one edge of the strip is to be folded, one of the slots, 3 or4, may be dispensed with.

Having thus described-my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. Acloth-folder consisting of a flattened tube having inone side a slot extending diagonally inward from one of its corners,substantially as specified.

2. A cloth-folding device consisting of a flattened tube having slotsextending diagonally 5. A cloth-folding device consisting of aflattenedtube having one of its sides diagonally slotted at the forward end andalso bent to form an inturned tongue, the other side of the tube havingan opening for permitting access to the under layer of cloth,substantially as specified.

6. A cloth-folding device consisting of a flattened tube having one ofits sides diagonally slotted at the forward end, the other side of anopening for permitting access to the under layer of cloth, substantiallyas specified.

the tube being closed at the ends but having 7. A cloth-folding deviceconsisting of a flattened tube having one of its sides diagonallyslotted at the forward end and also bent to' form an inturned tongue,the other side of the tube being closed at the ends but having anopening for permitting access to the under layer of the cloth,substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HORATIO NELSON. Witnesses:

ABRAM H. SMITH, STELLA KRAUSE.

